Hunter, in the Annals of Rural Bengal wrote: " What we (British
Army) fought was not a war. So long as their (Santals') drum went beating, they went on fighting to the last man."

About 20,000 Santals died and Hunter concludes, " There was not
a single sepoy (soldier) in the British army who did not feel ashamed."

Baba Tilka Majhi

Santal hero:Baba Tilka Majhi
was first Santal leader who took up the arms against the British in the 1789's. The British surrounded the Tilapore forest
from which he operated but he and his men held the enemy at bay for several weeks. When he was finally caught in 1784, he
was tied to the tail of a horse and dragged all the way to the collector's residence at Bhgalpur. There, his lacerated body
was hung from a Banyan tree. A statue to the heroic leader was erected at the spot after independence.

Hul : Freedom struggle

Hul is a Santali term. It means a movement for
liberation. Santals in Santal Paraganas (presently in the State of Jharkhand) belongs to Santali tribe. Two Murmu brothers,
Sido and Kanhu.

Santal Hul was one of the fiercest battles in the history of Indian freedom struggles causing greatest
number of loss of lives in any battles during that time. The number of causalities of Santal Hul was 20,000 according to Hunter
who wrote it in annals of Rural Bengal. The Santal Hul of 1855-57 was master minded by four brothers Sidhu, Kahnu, Chand
and Bhairav; a heroic episode in India's prolonged struggle for freedom. It was, in all probability, the fiercest liberation
movement in India next to Great Sepoy Mutiny in 1857.

With the capture of political power of India by the East India Company, the natural habitats of
the Adivasi (indigenous) people including the Santals began to shatter by the intruders like moneylenders. Traders and revenue
farmers, who descended upon them in large numbers under the patronage of the Company.

Believe it or not, the rate of interest on loan to the poor and illiterate Santals varied from 50%
to 500%. These intruders were, needless to mention the crucial links in the chain of ruthless exploitation under colonial
rule. They were the instruments through which the indigenous groups and tribes were brought within the influence and control
of the colonial economy.

Discontent had been simmering in the Santal Paraganas( presently in Jharkhand ) from the early decades
of the nineteenth century owing to most naked exploitation of the indigenous Santals by both the British authorities and their
collaborators, native immigrants.

Sido Murmu and Kanhu Murmu, hailing from the village Bhognadih in Sahibganj district, had long been
brooding over the injustices perpetrated by the oppressors like hundreds and hundreds of their tribe's men. The situation
finally reached a flash point and, not surprisingly, a small episode that took place in July 1855 triggered one of the fiercest
uprisings that the British administration ever faced in India.

The emergence of Sido and Kanhu, youthful, dynamic and charismatic, provided a rallying point for
the Santals to revolt against the oppressors .On 30th June 1855, a large number of Santals assembled in a field in Bhagnadihi
village of Santal Paragana, They declared themselves as free and took oath under the leadership of Sido Murmu and Kanhu Murmu
to fight unto the last against the British rulers as well as their agents.

Militant mood of the Santals frightened the authority. A Police agent confronted them on the 7th
July and tried to place the Murmu brothers under arrest. The angry crowd reacted violently and killed the Police agent and
his companions. The event sparked off a series of confrontations with the Company's Army and subsequently reached the scale
of a full-fledged war.

At the outset, Santal rebels, led by Sido and Kanhu, made tremendous gains and captured control
over a large tract of the country extending from Rajmahal hills in Bhagalpur district to Sainthia in Birbhum district. For
the time being, British rule in this vast area became completely paralyzed.

Many moneylenders and native agents of the Company were killed. Local British administrators took
shelter in the Pakur Fort to save their life. However, they rebel could not hold on to their gains due to the superior fire
power of the East India Company came down heavily on them.

The courage, chivalry and sacrifice of the Santals were countered by the rulers with veritable butchery.
Out of 50,000 Santal rebels, 15,000 20,000 were killed by the British Indian Army. The Company was finally able to suppress
the rebellion in 1856, though some outbreaks continued till 1857.

The Santals showed great bravery and incredible courage in the struggle against the military. As
long as their national drums continued beating, the whole party would stand and allow themselves to be shot down. There was
no sign of yielding. Once forty Santals refused to surrender and took shelter inside a mud house. The troops surrounded the
mud house and fired at them but Santals replied with their arrows. Then Soldiers made big hole through muddy wall, and the
Captain ordered them surrender but they again shot a volley of arrows through the hole and Captain again asked them to surrender
but they continued shooting arrows. Some of the soldiers were wounded. At last when the discharge of arrows from the door
slackened, the Captain went inside the room with soldiers. He found only one old man grievously wounded, standing erect
among the dead bodies. The soldier asked him to throw away arms, but instead he rushed on him and killed him with his battle
axe.

It is believed that Sido was captured by the British forces through treachery and Kanhu through
an encounter at Uparbanda. And was subsequently killed in captivity. The Santal Hul, however, did not come to an end in vain.
It had a long-lasting impact. Santal Parganas Tenancy Act was the outcome of this struggle, which dished out some sort of
protection to the indigenous people from the ruthless colonial exploitation. The understanding the mistake, tired to appease
the Santals by removing the genuine grievances. Santal territory was born. The regular police was abolished and the duty of
keeping peace and order and arresting criminals was vested in the hands of parganait and village headman.

The History of Jharkhand

Forgotten
struggles and so is the unsung Heros !Thebrave freedom struggles
by Adivasi, specially Santals (Details, Santals Huls ), against the British tyrannyand cruelty of Desi (native) landlords have often gone unnoticed and sometimes, by
nefarious design excluded from History text books. However, mere omission from the History books in educational curriculum,
can not conceal the stories of bravery of Adivasi Heros and stiff resistance, they had offered in the struggles.
But creation of Jharkhand state, which came into existence on 14.11.2000, gives
us opportunities to recall our history andunfolds plenty of untold stories,
more often than not, excluded in text books. Consequently, to understand the
bravery of Adivasi, there is need to deep understanding the History of formation of Jharkhand state, which inextricably mixed
with Adivasi freedom struggles dates back to British period. Here is a list of brief events, which marked the way to new state, Jharkhand. The text is complied by Subhas Soren.

Events1765 - Successful military mobilization to bring Santhal Pargana
under British rule1772-80 - Paharia revolt1780-85 - Tilka Manjhi led the tribal revolt and managed to injure
British army chief1785 - Tilka Manjhi hanged to death in Bhagalpur1795-1800 - Tamar revolt1797 - Munda revolt
under the leadership of Vishnu manaki1798 - Chaur revolt in Birbhum Bankura1798-99 - Bhoomij revolt of Manbhoom1800-02
- Munda revolt under the stewardship of Dukhan Manaki of Tamar1819-20 - Munda revolt in Palamu under the leadeship of
Bhukan Singh1832-33 - Khewar revolt under the leadership of Bhagirath, Dubai Gosai and Patel Singh1833-34 - Bhumij
revolt under the leadership of Ganga narain of Birbum1855 - Santhals waged war against the permanent settlement of Lord
Cornwallis 1855-60 - During late 1850s Sidhu had accumulated about Ten Thousands Santhals to run parallel govt. against
British rule. The basic purpose was to collect taxes by making his own laws. British govt. hadannounced an award of Rs.
Ten Thousand to arrest Sidhu and his brother Kanhu. This movement remained very active in Kahalgaon and Raniganj.1856
- Police brigade was constituted1856-57 - Martyr Sahid Lal, Vishwanath Shahdeo, Sheikh Bhikhari, Ganptrai and Budhu Veer
led a movement against the British gov. in the sepoy mutiny1874-99 - This period is famous for Birsa movement1874
- Kherwar movement shot into fame under the leadership of Bhagirathi manjhi1881 - Kherwar movement started1895-1900
- Launching of ULGLAN under the leadership of Birsa1912 - Bihar bifurcated from Bengal and some parts of Chotanagpur merged
into Bengal1913 - Constitution of Chotnagpur unati samaj1914 - Tana Bhajgat movement started which had the participation
of more than 26000 tribals1915 - Publication of Adivasi titled magazine started1929 - Simon commission presented with
a memorandum which demanded the information of Jharkhand state1936 - Orissa was created as a separate state1947 -
On Dec. 28 All India Jharkhand Party came intoinception1951 - Jharkhand party was elected to Vidhan Sabha as a main opposition
party1969 - Shibu Soren founded the Sonat Santahl Samaj1971 - A.K.Roy founded the Marxist M.C.C to demand the separate
Jharkhand state1973 - N.E.Horo named his party as Jharkhand Party and on March 12th he presented the then Prime Minister
a memorandum for separate Jharkhand state1977 - Jharkhand party proposed for separate Jharkhand state which included not
only Chotanagpur and Santhal Pargana of Bihar but adjoining area of Bengal1978 - The convention of All India Jharkhand
Party was held on May 211978 - June 9 came to commemorated as Birsa day1980 - Establishment of Jharkhand Kranti Dal1986
-September 25, All Jharkhand Students Union gave its first call for Jharkhand bandh , it was a huge success1987 - Call
for boycott of Independence day . The home minister of India directed the bihar government to prepare a report on detailed
profile of all districts of Chotnagpur and Santhal Pargana1989 - 72 hours of economic blockade by AJSU was total success1989
- 6 days of economic blockade by Jharkhand Mukti Morcha was success1994 - On Jan 6 Laloo Prasad Yadav declared in Ranchi
that Jharkhand devlopment autnomous council bill will be passed in budget session1995 - Jharkhand area autonomous council
was formed which comprised of 18 districts of Santhal Pargana and Chotnagpur and Shibu Soren was nominated as the Chairman1997
- June , Bihar government sanctioned 24 Crores for conducting the elections of Jharkhand Autonomous Council1997 - July
, Shibu Soren offered support to minority government of Laloo Prasad Yadav with a condition of a separate Jharkhand bill in
the assembly

The Year 2000 August 2 - The bill to create a separate state of Jharkhand to be carved
out of Bihar was passed in Lok Sabha by voice with two key allies of ruling NDA strongly opposing the measure and the opposition
Rashtriya Janta Dal and the CPI - M demanding it to be referred to a parliamentary committee. The long cherished demand of
people of the region was fulfilled, the celebration is on through out the Jharkhand region.

August 11 - Parliament today approved the formation of Jharkhand when the Rajya Sabha passed
by voice - vote the Bihar reorganisation bill 2000 to carve out the new state out of Bihar's northern region.

October - 12 - The center has issued the gazette notification starting November 15 to be
the appointed date for the formation of new Jharkhand Government and First Chief Minister of Jharkhand is Mr. Baulal Marandi.